


If You Only Knew

by Annabelle Graceton (Annabelle_Graceton)



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-28
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-19 17:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/576060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annabelle_Graceton/pseuds/Annabelle%20Graceton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If you only knew how I felt about you, how crazy you drove me. If you only knew that I even existed..." </p>
<p>It's been a year since Kaley moved to New York with her best friend, Leah, and suddenly she finds herself in the chance of a life time: getting to work backstage for a two week Glee show in New York where she'll get to meet the man she fell in love with on screen: Darren Criss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something's Coming

**Author's Note:**

> I recently joined this site but I have been working on this story for a while. I will continue adding more chapters if there is any interest. I'd love to hear what you think of it! :)

My fingers thrummed anxiously on the keys of my keyboard as I stared at the blank screen. I had been wanting to write a story for weeks now but I had been stuck with writer's block. My fingers traced the letters on the keys, hoping for some sort of inspiration. I was about to give up when the door flew open and in bounced my roommate and best friend, Leah.

"Kaley! Kaley! Kaley!" she squealed, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Leah! Leah! Leah!" I echoed back teasingly with a light chuckle.

"You will never guess what just happened!" she squealed, barely able to contain her excitement.

"What happened?" I asked, standing up and ushering her towards the bed where we both sat down.

"Ok, so you know how Vicky had gotten me that job working backstage for _Mamma Mia_?" she began, only slightly calming down. I nodded, fully remembering the event three months earlier, the job that she could not (or would not) stop talking about. I had been so jealous because _Mamma Mia_ was one of my favourite shows ever and Leah had gotten to work backstage for it for the two weeks that it had been in New York.

"Well," she continued with a sly smirk. "Vic just called me and offered me a job working backstage again at a show next month!"

"Oh?" I felt my eyebrows raise in question. "What show?"

"Guess!" she squeaked, excitement bursting through her.

"I don't know!" I sighed. My mind was already a muddled mess from my earlier writer's block and it just couldn't think of anything creative.

"You're no fun!" Leah pouted, flopping backwards so that she was lying flat out on the bed. "Come on, guess!"

"Give me a hint?" I pleaded, giving her puppy dog eyes, which I knew she couldn't resist.

"Oh alright!" she laughed. "Hmmmm... Well usually they tour around during the summer but instead this year they're just doing a two week show here in New York."

"That could still be anyone!" I exclaimed. "Another hint?"

"Hmmmmmmmm..." she mused. She made me wait in agonizing silence for a good five minutes before she finally spoke again.

"This will totally give it away, but oh well!" she laughed. "I cannot wait to see the look on your face!"

"Out with it, woman!" I cried.

"Okay," she smirked. "The love of your life is part of this group." I gasped. Like a full, out loud gasp. My eyes shot wide open and my jaw dropped to the floor. Leah just laughed at me, satisfied with my reaction all the while I was struggling to respond. I was literally speechless.

"You're working backstage for _Glee_?" I finally managed to sputter.

"Yes!" she squealed.

"Oh my gosh, you are so lucky!" I exclaimed. "That is so not fair!"

"How much do you love me?" Leah asked mischievously.

"Why?" I replied cautiously, my brows furrowing with suspicion.

"How much do you love me?" she repeated.

"Leah, you're my best friend in the whole world," I sighed. "I came all the way to New York with you so that we could pursue our dreams together. I dropped everything and left everyone to come with you: my home, my family, even my freaking country! And you're asking me how much I love you?"

All she did was nod, the same goofy smirk still on her face. I tried to glare angrily at her, but all it took was one twitch of her lips to send us both cascading into a fit of laughter. When we finally settled down again, I answered her seriously.

"Leah, you're my best friend and I love you to death," I tackled her into a hug. "Dearly, not queerly, of course."

"Of course," she laughed, hugging me back. "And now you're going to love me even more!"

"Why?" I asked, letting go of her and sitting back up.

"I got you a job too!" she squealed.

I think I died inside for a minute. I literally felt my heart stop beating.

"If you're pulling my leg, I'm gonna kill you," I warned.

"I'm dead serious!" she insisted. "No pun intended." I guess she could tell that I didn't quite believe her so she went on.

"I swear I'm not lying!" she urged me to believe her. "Kaley, in one month, you and I are going to be working backstage for _Glee_!"

"Leah, do you realize what this means!" I exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders and giving them a light shake.

"That I get to meet Chris Colfer?" she beamed.

"No, it's even bigger than that!" I exclaimed again. "It means that I get to meet _Darren Criss_!"


	2. Dreams

The next month just flew by. The next thing I knew, I found myself standing in the _Radio City Music Hall_ with Leah, my mouth gaping in wonder and disbelief as I looked around.

"If I'm dreaming, please don't pinch me," I whispered to Leah as we were ushered into a group on the stage with the other employees.

"Okay, listen up," I heard Vicky's voice call out over the group. "I'm going to call out your name and your job here for the next two weeks. I'm only going to say it once, so listen closely!" I listened intently for my name, getting more and more anxious when I didn't hear mine or Leah's name called.

"Leah Tanner" Vicky finally called out. "Laundry and costume caretaker." I felt Leah grab my hand and give it a light squeeze. To some people, laundry duty would seem menial and one of the crappiest jobs you could get, but I knew that it meant a lot to Leah because it meant that she would get to touch the clothes that Chris Colfer wore. I was slightly jealous because that meant that she got to touch the clothes that Darren Criss wore too.

Ok, I know it may sound a little creeperish, but hey I think that anyone would get excited it they were able to touch and hold something that their celebrity crush had worn.

"Alright, that's everyone," Vicky announced. "Remember, you must respect the performers. You are not to take any pictures of them unless they say that you can. Violation of this will get you fired. Understand?" A murmur of yeses rose from the group. "Good. Now if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. You are dismissed."

My heart suddenly dropped. I hadn't heard my name called. I quickly looked at Leah, hoping that I had maybe just missed it while daydreaming about Darren, but I saw an identical shocked looking expression plastered on her face. Before I could even mutter her name, I found myself being quickly dragged towards Vicky.

"Vicky," Leah called out, catching her attention. "You didn't say Kaley's name!" Vicky looked at me and I saw recognition flash through her eyes. We had met briefly back when Leah had brought me backstage after one of the _Mamma Mia_ shows. I had been her ride home, or at least that was the excuse she had given for why I was backstage. I didn't even own a car.

"Kaley Grant," Vicky said as she looked down at her clipboard. "Ah yes. We don't quite have a specifically assigned job for you. You're job is basically to do whatever needs to be done, all the odd jobs."

I considered this for a minute then just shrugged.

"Okay, sure," I smiled. "I'll be the odd one."

Leah snickered at my comment saying, "You've always been a bit of an oddball!" I stuck my tongue put at her, but then realized where we were and hung my head in shame.

"Sorry," I mumbled to Vicky.

"It's okay," she laughed. "I don't have anything for you to do right now, so you can help Leah with the laundry and costumes until I do. Sound good?"

"Perfect," I smiled, feeling Leah grab my hand and give it an excited squeeze, which I returned. "Thank you."

After that, I let Leah drag me away to where we would be working. The room that she led me into was already full of costumes, which had been sent ahead of the performers.

"Alrighty," Leah announced, picking up a clipboard from one of the tables. "It looks like the first thing we're to do is take these costumes to their dressing rooms." She motioned towards the hanging racks that had multiple different outfits hanging from them. I walked over to one and fingered the tag hanging from one of the outfits. It read: _Cory Monteith - Jessie's Girl._

"I still can't believe that I'm here right now," I commented as I moved down the rack looking at all of the different costumes. "Oh my gosh, Leah!" I had stopped before a sparkly spandex outfit. It's tag read: _Chris Colfer - Single Ladies_. Leah set the clipboard down and quickly came over to see what I was looking at, squeaking with excitement when she read the tag.

"He's doing _Single Ladies_!" she squealed, jumping up and down. I joined her in her bounciness, because I was just as excited to see Chris dance to _Single Ladies_. Before Darren Criss joined the show, Kurt had always been my favourite character. But then came Blaine and... Well let's just say that Kurt was moved to my number two favourite.

"Any problems here, ladies?" Vicky's voice came from the doorway. We instantly stopped jumping and tried to act natural, Leah picking up the clipboard again and me pulling an outfit off the rack.

"Nope, no problems," I heard Leah reply as I felt my face flush with heat.

"Kaley?" I could feel her eyes on me.

"All good," I replied, giving her a quick smile, not wanting her to see my face for long in case it was red.

"Ok then," I could hear the smile in her voice. Dang it, my face was probably red! "I'll let you get back to your work then. You have a lot of costumes to deal with."

I didn't relax until I head Leah exhale deeply. I slowly turned around to face her and when our eyes met, we both burst out laughing.

"Okay, now we seriously need to get to work," Leah said once we had settled down again. "Do you want to take some of the costumes to the dressing rooms while I sort them into groups by each performer?"

"Sure," I shrugged, looking at the outfit still in my hands. It was a simple black dress with a red stripe around the middle. I looked at the tag and it read: _Lea Michele - Don't Rain on my Parade_. "I guess I'm going to Lea's room first." I laughed at the irony. Leah (my Leah) helped me collect a couple more of Lea's outfits, then she gave me a small card that had the order the outfits needed to be hung up in and then, after giving me directions to the dressing rooms, sent me on my way.

I quickly made my way to the dressing rooms, which were actually easier to find than I thought they would be, and found myself stopping before a door with a star that read _Lea Michele_ on it. I knocked, just in case anyone was in the room, and, when no one answered, I turned the knob and walked in. I was not prepared for the grandeur of it.

I had done a few school shows back when I was in high school, so I was familiar with dressing rooms, but they were small and minuscule compared to the one that I stood in now. The room was bigger than mine and Leah's whole apartment. Clothing racks lined the walls. A huge vanity sat against one walls, which was surrounded by so many mirrors. The room was brightly lit by hundreds of lights.

I was finally snapped out of the awestruck state that I was in by a laugh behind me. I spun around and was surprised to find myself staring into a pair of sparkling bright blue eyes.


	3. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

My eyes finally left his entrancing blue eyes and trickled down to his lips, which were turned upwards into a grin.

"You're new here, aren't you?" the lips asked. I blinked, startled by the comment, and was finally able to see who I was talking to. Leaning casually in the doorway stood a young man, probably close to my own age, with wavy, black hair that hung above his ears, one of which was pierced with a small black stud.

His arms were crossed over a plain black t-shirt and he wore a pair of ripped blue jeans. His blue eyes watched, amused, as I just stood there gaping at him. My eyes dropped to the floor in embarrassment, where I noticed the black Converse that he was wearing.

"Hello, earth to newbie," he was waving his hand, trying to get my attention.

"Whaa?" tumbled out of my mouth and I inwardly kicked myself for how stupid I sounded. He just laughed, which was deep and musical.

"How did you know I was new?" I asked when I finally found my voice again, catching him off guard.

"Very easily," he replied with a smile. "Newbies tend to stand in the very middle of rooms with their mouths hanging wide open." I felt my jaw snap shut. He just laughed again.

"The name's James Carter," he pushed away from the doorway and walked towards me, hand extended.

"Kaley Grant," I replied, taking his hand. I was expecting him to shake it, but instead he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. I felt my cheeks flush with heat (curse my dang emotions!) as my free hand flew to my mouth to stifle a gasp.

"James!" someone called from outside the room. He quickly looked over his shoulder, then back to me, releasing my hand as he took a step away.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Grant," he grinned. "I look forward to working with you." And then he was gone, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.

It took me a couple of minutes to compose myself before I finally remembered what I was supposed to be doing. I hung the outfits on one of the racks, making sure to hang them in the order that was written in the card. By the time that I finally returned to the room where Leah waited, twenty minutes had passed.

"Did you get lost?" Leah teased when I walked into the room.

"No, but I had a very strange encounter," I replied, dropping down into a nearby chair. I quickly told her what had happened and I noticed her stiffen when I mentioned James' name.

"What's wrong?" I asked her when I finished my tale.

"James Carter, that's what's wrong!" she snapped, startling me. "Kaley, stay away from him! He's nothing but trouble!"

"Why?" I asked, taken aback by her comments. He had seemed really sweet to me.

"Kaley, just trust me," Leah sighed, rubbing her temple. "He's just not the sort of guy that you want to get mixed up with. He's a player and to be honest? I don't trust him one bit! Seriously, you would be far better off to stay as far away from him as you can!"

Leah's comments left me feeling uneasy for the rest of the day. I was worried that I was going to run into him again as I made my journey from the laundry room to the dressing rooms and back, but the rest of the day passed by uneventfully... Well at least it did until the end of my shift.

At one point during my back and forth travels, I had put my headphones on to listen to (of course) _Glee_ songs and as I made my way towards the dressing rooms with the last few outfits, jamming out to _Don't Stop Believin'_ , I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder and spin me around. I was so startled that I nearly dropped the clothes that I held in my hands. Then I looked up into a pair of dazzling hazel eyes and I very nearly dropped them again. They were his eyes.

 

"- hear me?" I only caught the end of his question as I pulled my earbuds from my ears.

"I'm sorry?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I had no clue what he had just said.

"You're sorry?" he scoffed. "Was that a question or an apology?"

"I-I-" I stuttered, confused and taken aback by his anger.

"Forget it!" he scowled, as he began to roughly push past me. But then he stopped suddenly, turning sharply to look at what I held in my hands.

"What are you doing with those?!" he snapped, grabbing at the clothes in my hands.

"I'm-" I started to explain.

"Not only are you rude and ignorant," he cut me off. "But you're a _thief_ too!" He snatched the clothes from my hands and roughly grabbed my arm, dragging me down the hall towards the stage. He dragged me right over to where Vicky stood talking to a man I recognized as Ryan Murphy, the co-creator of _Glee_.

"I caught this little thief stealing my clothes!" he announced, pushing me towards Vicky.

"Kaley?" I heard the confusion and alarm in her voice.

"I didn't... I wasn't..." I stuttered, my heart racing. I could feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. Vicky just pulled me towards her and gave me a hug.

"You do realize that you are accusing one of our employees who works in the costume department, whose job it is to handle your clothing, of stealing that which she was hired to take care of?" I heard Vicky exclaim. "You accused her of stealing your clothes because you found her with them in her possession, but did you ever stop to think that maybe she was supposed to have them? Did you ever think that maybe she's taking them to your dressing room, which is her job?" I peeked out at him from the cocoon that I was still engulfed in.

"N-n-no," he stuttered, hanging his head.

"I'm ashamed of you!" Vicky scolded.

"As am I," Ryan spoke suddenly. I peeked at him and saw that he had his arms crossed and was looking at my accuser half with confusion and half with anger and disappointment. 

"Just because you're famous doesn't give you the right to treat our employees this way!" Vicky continued. "Honestly, you were the last person that I would have ever expected to act like this!"

"I'm sorry," my accuser muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

"Don't say it to us," Ryan sighed. "Apologize to her." I felt Vicky turn me around to face him. I was afraid to even meet his eyes, so I kept them downcast.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. My eyes slowly raised to look at him. I was expecting to see sorrow and regret, but instead all I saw was anger and frustration. I was so startled that I couldn't even speak, so all I did was nod my head, turning my eyes away again.

"May I go now?" he asked, his question directed at Ryan and Vicky.

"Go, rest up," Ryan dismissed with a wave of his hand. "You need to be rested for the show tomorrow. I sincerely hope that there are no more problems. You may go now." I watched him as he turned on his heel and hurried away.

"You okay, Kaley?" Vicky asked, turning me back towards her. I nodded.

"May I go?" I asked softly.

"Yes, of course," she replied. "I'm sure that Leah is waiting for you."

I slowly made my way back to the laundry room, not needing to go to the dressing rooms anymore since he had taken his clothes with him. I felt numb all over, not believing what had just happened. As soon as I walked into the room, Leah was by my side.

"I heard what happened," Leah said, hugging me tightly. "Are you okay?"

"He's a jerk," I finally sputtered.

"What?" Leah asked, breaking from the hug so that she could hear me clearly.

"He's a jerk," I repeated, as I broke down crying. " _Darren Criss is a jerk!_ "


	4. Misery

**Darren's POV**

"Screw you!" I yelled into my phone before stabbing my finger at the end call button. I threw my phone at the seat on the other side of the limo, wanting it to be as far away from me as possible. I had never felt more hurt and dejected in all of my life. The girl that I had been in love with for almost two years had cheated on me. And it wasn't the first time either.

I furiously wiped away the tears that I could feel brimming in my eyes. I wasn't going to cry over her anymore. She had caused enough of my tears to fall since we had started dating and I was done with her. Done with her, done with all of the lying and the cheating, done with all of the fighting! It seemed like all we ever did was fight! But despite all the bad times, I still loved her. She had made me so happy... Of course I would forgive her that first time... It was a mistake, she had said. It would never happen again. And that's what she had said the next time. And the time after that. And the time after that. I just couldn't take it anymore.

They say that you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, but I guess it took five "mistakes" for me to wise up and break it off with her. It still hurt though. I loved her. I still do. But yet I hate her for that. I wish that we had never met. Then I wouldn't be sitting here alone, feeling so hurt and betrayed. I knew that Chris was probably waiting for me at the hotel. He always seems to know when something's wrong, but I just can't talk to him right now. My emotions are just too jumbled. That's why I told the driver to go to the theatre.

There's something about being in a theatre that just relaxes me. That and having a guitar in my hands. But since my guitar is at the hotel, I'll have to settle with the theatre. Going there will give me the chance to check out my dressing room and make sure that all of my outfits made it. I needed to do something to keep my mind off of her.

We finally pulled up to the theatre. I pulled my hoodie up over my head as I stepped out of the limo so that no one would recognize me. It was already getting dark out, which helped disguise me as I slipped into the building, stopping only once to show my ID to the guard on duty.

Once inside, I let my hood down and shook out my short, curly brown hair. It felt weird having it short. I missed having it long. I couldn't help but smile as I thought back on my _A Very Potter Musical_ days. My hair had been so long then. That felt like the real me. I slowly ran my fingers through my short unruly hair. At least there wasn't any hair gel in it right now. It felt free, not held down and constricted... Like how my heart felt. I let out a heavy sigh. I needed to find my dressing room.

Looking around, I didn't see anyone. It was getting late, but surely someone must still be here who can show me where my dressing room is. I slowly started to make my way down the hallway before me. I passed a door that read: Stage Door, but I continued past it. I didn't want to go to the stage. I continued along down the hall, almost running into a girl with light brown hair who very suddenly appeared before me. The door she had exited from clicked shut as it closed behind her. She quickly made her way down the hallway, kind of oblivious to the fact that she had almost run into me.

"Excuse me, Miss!" I called out after her. She didn't stop. I felt my eyebrows furrow with confusion. Why didn't she stop?

"Miss!" I called out again, starting towards her. "Excuse me, miss, can I talk to you?" Again she ignored me. Then I just kind of snapped. Who was this chick that she would just totally ignore me? I had been polite when I called for her, yet she continued to be ignorant and rude towards me, not even acknowledging that I was there. I felt anger boiling inside of me as I quickly caught up to her and grab her shoulder, turning her towards me.

"You almost ran into me and then wouldn't stop when I called after you. Did you not hear me?" I demanded. She just looked at me oddly, her deep brown eyes wide as they stared back at me.

"I'm sorry?" she furrowed her eyebrows at me. I don't know why but her response irked me. It was not the kind of apology I was expecting.

"You're sorry?" I scoffed. "Was that a question or an apology?"

"I-I-" she just stuttered, which just continued to irk me.

"Forget it!" I scowled frustratedly. All I wanted to do was just find my dressing room and be alone and this brown haired girl was doing nothing but irritating me. I moved to pass her, kind of bumping into her harder than I expected to, when I suddenly noticed what she held in her hands. I stopped and quickly turned towards her, staring hard at what she was holding. It was my clothes.

"What are you doing with those?!" I demanded, grabbing at my clothes. Then it hit me. She was stealing my clothes!

"I'm-" she started but I cut her off.

"Not only are you rude and ignorant," I huffed. "But you're a _thief_ too!" I quickly took my clothes from her hands, then grabbed her arm, tightly so that she couldn't get away, deciding that I would report this thief to whomever was in charge. I quickly pulled her along back towards the stage door I had seen earlier. I spotted Ryan right away talking to a tall blonde woman who looked like they might be in charge, so I took the girl over to them.

"I caught this little thief stealing my clothes!" I announced, pushing her towards the woman.

"Kaley?" the woman sounded confused and alarmed, which made me feel the same way, especially when I realized that she knew the girl's name.

"I didn't... I wasn't..." the girl stuttered. She kind of sound scared... She actually almost sounded like she was about to cry. The woman just grabbed the girl and hugged her, which surprised me even more.

"You do realize that you are accusing one of our employees who works in the costume department, whose job it is to handle your clothing, of stealing that which she was hired to take care of?" the woman exclaimed. "You accused her of stealing your clothes because you found her with them in her possession, but did you ever stop to think that maybe she was supposed to have them? Did you ever think that maybe she's taking them to your dressing room, which is her job?" I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment as I realized what she had said. I had accused the costume manager of stealing my clothes. I now felt even more worse than I had before I had walked into the theatre.

"N-n-no," I felt myself stutter as I hung my head in shame. I couldn't bear to look at Ryan. I could just feel the disappointment and shame emanating from him.

"I'm ashamed of you!" the woman scolded me.

"As am I," Ryan said suddenly, which made me feel even worse. Disappointing Ryan was something that I had never wanted to do. I felt horrible.

"Just because you're famous doesn't give you the right to treat our employees this way!" the woman continued. "Honestly, you were the last person that I would have ever expected to act like this!"

"I'm sorry," I muttered. I was starting to feel very uncomfortable standing there under their disappointing glares.

"Don't say it to us," Ryan sighed. "Apologize to her." I looked up at the girl who was now turned towards me. She kept her head down, as if she were afraid of me. I felt anger bubbling in me again as I stared at her. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be in this mess right now.

I didn't really want to apologize to her, but I could feel Ryan and the woman watching me intently, so I finally said "I'm sorry," again, this time directed towards the girl.

As soon as the words fell from my lips, her head slowly rose and her eyes fell on mine. Her face suddenly changed to a shocked expression and she quickly looked away, nodding her head as she did. I suddenly felt bad as I realized that my anger must have shown on my face and that she would have seen it. Truthfully, I knew that it wasn't her fault. I was the one who had acted out. I was just so frustrated and angry and I had taken it all out on her.

That was when I noticed it. The white wires of head phones hanging over the edge of the neckline of her shirt. She had had earbuds in. That's why she hadn't heard me. I suddenly felt like I wanted to be sick.

"May I go now?" I asked Ryan, wanting to get as far away as I could. 

"Go, rest up," he replied with a wave of his hand. "You need to be rested for the show tomorrow. I sincerely hope that there are no more problems. You may go now."

As soon as he had finished talking, I turned on my heel and hurried away. I didn't care where I was going. All I care about was getting away.

I walked blindly through the back hallways of the theatre. People whispered as I passed by them. Apparently news travelled fast here. It seemed like everyone already knew about what had happened. I finally happened upon a door with wording that I recognized. Inside the star hanging on the door it read: _Darren Criss_. At that moment, I couldn't help but think that it should be replaced with: _The Biggest A-Hole of Life_. Because that was how I felt right then.

I quickly turned the doorknob and slipped into the room. The racks around the room were filled with my clothes. I looked down at the ones that I still held in my hands and felt sick. I quickly threw them away from me, disgusted by them. Disgusted by myself. Then I actually felt like I was going to be sick. I ran into the small room that was adjoined to mine, praying that it was a bathroom, which it was, and soon emptied my stomach into the toilet bowl. As I flushed the toilet, I heard a knock at the door.

"Go away!" I yelled at it. But it didn't listen. Instead, all it did was open to reveal Chris and many of our fellow cast mates. His bright, understanding glasz eyes connected with mine and in that silent exchange I knew that he knew about what had happened.

Within seconds, they were all huddled around me and my eyes were overflowing with tears, tears that were, for once, not over her.


	5. Jar Of Hearts

**Darren's POV**

I don't fully remember how I got there, but somehow my friends had managed to get me outside and into the limo where we were soon headed on our way back to our hotel. Chris didn't say anything. He just sat there beside me and gently rubbed my back. It was comforting and I found myself feeling so grateful to have a friend like him. Playing boyfriends on the show had really caused us to have a deeper connection and friendship with one another and I knew that I could always depend on Chris to be there for me.

Across the limo, I caught Lea exchanging glances with Chris. It was so obvious that they both wanted to ask about what had happened, to hear my side of the story, but they were kind enough not to ask. Well at least not yet anyways.

I buried my head in my hands, wishing I could just burrow down into some dark hole and just stay there. I don't think that I had ever been that mean to someone. I felt horrible. My stomach churned as her shocked and scared expression flickered through my mind again. She had actually been afraid of me.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I mumbled. I felt Chris stiffen beside me and when I peeked through my fingers I could see him shifting his feet away. Typical Chris. He didn't want to ruin his shoes.

A small metal garbage can suddenly appeared before me and I felt inclined to look up and thank Lea for it. I gave her a halfhearted smile and a mumbled thanks before turning my eyes back down. Luckily, I did not get sick again.

I felt the limo slow to a stop and felt Lea and Chris grab my arms and help me out of the car. A bright flash nearly blinded me and I groaned. _Paparazzi._

I brought my arm up to shield my face. I didn't want them to see that I had been crying. I felt Lea hook her arm through my free one and lead me through the crowd of camera-wielding people, Chris staying just as close, trying to shield me from the camera's flashes as best as he could. As soon as we got inside the hotel, I felt like I wanted to collapse.

"Not here," Chris' high, musical voice whispered in my ear. I nodded, then let them lead me into the elevator and up to our room. Chris slid his key into the card reader and opened the door for us, turning on the light switches as he walked into the room.

It wasn't an overly huge room, but it was still larger than the average sized hotel room. Of course management would try to give us the best that they could. I personally could care less about the size or the grandeur of the room. I was fine with just simple things.

I stumbled away from Lea and crashed onto one of the large beds. I wished that this whole night had just been one bad nightmare, but when I peeked open my eyes, both Chris and Lea were watching me intently, which told me that it had all happened. I groaned as I hid my face again.

"Ok, you can either continue lying there, moaning and groaning and feeling bad about yourself," Chris sighed. "Or you can sit up and tell us exactly what happened." I knew that I would have to face their questions eventually, so, with a huge sigh, I sat up and told them everything that had happened.

"I keep seeing her face in my mind," I shook my head, as if I could just shake the bad thoughts out. "She was so scared and I feel horrible! I don't know why I was such a jerk! I just snapped, I guess, and she just happened to be there when it happened."

"I told you that Vanessa was no good for you!" Chris sighed. "If you had just listened to me and broken up with her that first time, then you wouldn't be in this mess! That girl was nothing but trouble! I'm sorry to say I told you so, but I told you so."

"I know," I sighed as well, running my fingers through my hair. "I just didn't want to accept the fact that our relationship was going down the drain. I loved her. And now I feel like my heart's been ripped out and stepped on repeatedly."

"It'll be okay, Darren," Lea said as she came and sat beside me, giving me a tight hug. "Time heals all wounds. I know that's a cliche thing to say, but it's true. Remember how heartbroken I was when Nathaniel left me?"

I nodded. That had been one of the hardest times in Lea's life. She had basically just sat around her apartment all day, watching sappy movies and eating ice cream. It had taken Chris and I a while to break her out of the funk that she was in, but we finally did, and soon she was back to her perky, usual self.

"Well I did finally get over him and move on," Lea continued. "People are going to hurt you in life, but you've just got to keep your head up because things will get better."

"Here," Chris plopped a phone book down on my lap. I looked down at it and the first thing I read was _Ivona's Flower Shop_.

"Flowers?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yep," he smiled. "And a great big note that says ' _Sorry that I was such a jerk. Let me make it up to you._ '"

"I don't think flowers will make it up to her," I sighed. "I was a real jerk."

"Well, flowers are a start anyways," Chris shrugged as he sat down beside me. "I know that flowers always cheer me up."

"Thanks, Chris," I smiled. "And you too, Lea. I'm so glad that I have friends like you."

"Hey, that's what friends are for," Lea smiled, hugging me again.

"Of course," Chris smiled, hugging me as well. "Friends are always there for each other." I smiled as I was sandwiched in a hug between them, a tear pricking my eye, but unlike all the others that I had shed that night, this tear was a happy one.

"But you know," Chris suddenly spoke up. "If you're still in a rough mood, I wouldn't be opposed to watching a sappy chick flick." I laughed. Of course he wouldn't be.

"Go ahead, put something on," I laughed. Chris leapt up from the bed happily as he skipped over to check what movies we had brought. After a couple of minutes he came back with a DVD case in his hands.

"Okay, so this isn't a sappy chick flick," he said as he sat back down. "But I thought it'd be a better movie for cheering you up." He handed the case to me and I couldn't help but smile as I read the word _Tangled_.

"You know me too well," I chuckled. "Alright, _Tangled_ it is!" I stood up and went to the TV to put the movie on. Soon I was back snuggled between my two best friends watching one of my favourite movies with my heart slowly but surely starting to feel less and less heavy as the night went on.

I felt my eyelids slowly starting to droop as the song _I See The Light_ started to play. The last thing I remember was the sweet, musical voices of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi singing, " _All at once, everything is different, now that I see you._ "


	6. Lean On Me

**Kaley's POV**

As soon as we got back to our apartment, I quickly locked myself in our small bathroom. I appreciated Leah's comforting presence, but I desperately needed a couple of minutes alone. I put the lid of the small white toilet down so that I could sit on it, quickly bringing my legs up, my heels resting gently on the corner of the lid, so that my arms could wrap around them and I could bury my face in my knees.

A part of me wanted to cry again, but something held me back from doing so. As I reflected back on what had happened, I found myself becoming more and more angry. Who was this _Darren Criss_ to treat me, or anybody really, in such a way? I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket, Darren Criss' picture illuminating on the screen as it woke up, and I suddenly found myself staring at the picture.

It was one of my favourite pictures of him. He was slightly turned away so that his back was to the camera in a beach like setting. He had no shirt on and his head was tilted down like as if he was looking at something on the ground, or like as if he was just lost in thought. I loved the picture because it seemed so natural.

I felt the sudden urge to delete the photo, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it. Though he had been the biggest jerk of life, I still liked him. I had had a huge crush on him as soon as he had appeared on the show as Blaine.

Well, technically I had seen him as Harry Potter in the _Starkid_ 's _A Very Potter Musical_ , on _YouTube_ before seeing him on _Glee_ , loving his quirky facial expressions and beautiful voice, but when he sang on _Glee_ , my heart just imploded with happiness. He had one of the most beautiful singing voices that I had ever heard in my life. I was completely entranced by his voice whenever he sang. There was just something so magical about it (haha magical! Get it? Cause he played Harry Potter! ... Wow that was lame) and it just made me instantly happy whenever I heard one of his songs. But right now, hearing his voice was the last thing that I wanted.

"Kaley?" Leah's voice was hesitant as she lightly knocked on the door.

"I just need a minute," I told her, burying my face in my knees again.

"Do you want me to put some popcorn on, maybe set up a movie?" she asked.

"I don't know," I sighed. I wasn't really in the mood to watch anything.

"Come on," she sighed. "I'll put on _Tangled_ if you want." I smiled. She knew me too well. _Tangled_ was one of my favourite _Disney_ movies.

"Alright, fine," I replied. "I'll watch _Tangled_."

My mind suddenly conjured an image of a scene in the movie but with me replacing Rapunzel and Darren replacing Flynn Rider where I smacked him in the face with a frying pan. Hard. I smiled at the image. But then a different scene took over. Rapunzel/me and Flynn/Darren in a boat on the water, surrounded by floating lights, about to kiss. I smacked my head, trying to dislodge the image from my mind, but it wouldn't go away.

"I don't really want to watch _Tangled_ anymore," I sighed. "Can we watch a movie that doesn't involve falling in love?"

When I finally emerged from the bathroom I found Leah curled up on our old blue couch in the living room, a bowl of popcorn sitting in her lap.

"I popped us each our own bowl," she said, pointing to another bowl on the small coffee table. "I didn't want to share cause I'm hungry!"

"More for me!" I laughed as I picked up the bowl and sat down beside her. "So what movie did you pick?"

"Well, since you don't want to watch _Tangled_ for some odd reason," she gave me an inquiring look, but I just shook my head. "Well, I picked two of your other favourite Disney movies instead." She held up two DVD cases. One was _Pocahontas_ and the other was the 2003 version of _Peter Pan_.

"I said no love stories," I whined.

"Well, technically they aren't cause Pocahontas and John Smith don't end up together in the end and Wendy leaves Peter and returns to London while he stays in Neverland," Leah argued. "Hey, it was the best I could do considering the fact that half of your movie library is made up of love stories!"

"I guess you're right," I sighed, slouching down into the couch. "Put on _Peter Pan_. I'd rather watch the girl leave the guy than the guy leave the girl."

"Alrighty," she smiled, getting up to put the movie on. When she sat back down, I pulled up a blanket to cover both of us. I leaned my head on her shoulder as the movie started and I heard her quietly start to hum _Lean on Me_. I smiled and began to hum along with her. Pretty soon we were both belting out the chorus to the song, not caring about how thin the walls were and that our neighbours might hear us singing.

As we sang the last line of the song, I felt tears pricking my eyes.

"Thank you," I whispered to her as I dabbed at my eyes with the corner of the blanket.

"That's what friends are for," she replied, giving me a hug. "Now hush! Peter's about to teach them how to fly!" I smiled as I turned my attention back on the TV screen and watched Jeremy Sumpter in his leafy outfit try to teach the three Darling children how to fly.

I felt my eyes starting to drift close and as I entered into my dreamworld that night, I dreamt that Peter Pan was coming to take me away to Neverland where I would never have to grow up or deal with such confusing things like _love_.


	7. I Don't Want To Know

**Kaley's POV**

"I am so over Darren Criss," I declared to Leah as I hung a bright red, leather, _Michael Jackson_ jacket up on the rack. The last few remaining outfits for the show had arrived earlier this morning and Leah and I had busied ourselves for the past hour with sorting through the large pile and hanging up the various outfits in their respective groups.

"Sure you are," Leah rolled her bright blue eyes at me as she hung up a black leather jacket. "Then let me _delete_ his picture from your phone..." She started to reach from my small _Blackberry_ that was sitting on the table, but I quickly half dove across the table and grabbed it before she could.

"No!" I exclaimed, hugging it protectively to my chest, turning my body slightly away from her to shield it from her view as if that would protect it even more.

"I thought that you said that you were over him," she teased, crossing her arms over her chest, a light smile spreading across her lips.

"Oh, be quiet," I rolled my eyes at her as I slid off of the table and righted myself. My eyes caught on the illuminated picture of Darren on the screen before I slid it into my pocket.

As much as I hated him right now, I just couldn't ignore the fact that I had had a huge crush on him for the past couple years, because a crush like that is not something that you can just get over in the blink of an eye.

"I can't help it," I sighed. "He has such an amazing voice! It's like... _hypnotic_ or something. I hear it and I just can't help but love him even more, even if he is a jerk."

"I know what you mean," Leah sighed dreamily. "That's how I feel when I hear Chris' voice. It's just so... _magical_! It makes my heart flutter every time he sings!" She let out a deep, heavy sigh. "If only he wasn't..." She bent her hand at a 45 degree angle and I laughed.

"I know what you mean," I replied. "He has such an amazing voice. That's why he was my favourite before you-know-who came along..." I let out another disheartened sigh. I had been rejected by guys before, but this one hurt so much more because it had been him. Him, the one whose songs I listened to night and day, the one whose picture was saved on every single one of my electronic devices, the one who broke my heart like no one else had ever done before.

_Maybe I should delete his picture,_ I thought, reaching for my phone. _It'll be a start at least..._

"Hey Kaley," Leah interrupted my thoughts. I looked up at her to see her holding out another black, leather, _Michael Jackson_ jacket to me. Around the left sleeve I noticed a silver band and I instantly recognized it as the jacket that Blaine wore in the number _Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'_.

"Can you hang this up?" she raised her eyebrows at me challengingly, knowing very well whose jacket it was. I just rolled my eyes as I reached out and took it from her.

"Yeah, whatever," I retorted as I turned away from her and scanned the racks before me.

We had organized all of the costumes onto racks for each of the actors, which were all lined up in neat little rows. I quickly found Darren's rack, which was a couple of rows back, and made my way towards it.

"Oh!" I heard Leah exclaim as I hung the jacket on the rack.

I turned around, the word "What?" ready to fall from my lips, but I stopped myself as I heard another voice start to speak.

"Are you Kaley Grant?" a high, musical voice asked. Though the racks hid my view of who was speaking, I could instantly tell who it was. I carefully snuck to the end of the row and peeked out. Sure enough, there standing in the doorway was none other than _Chris Colfer_.

A light smile hung on his perfect lips as he stood there patiently, and I gazed in awe upon his beauty. His light brown hair was styled perfectly (as usual), matching his stylish, blue-vested outfit which made his bright glasz eyes stand out even more than they usually did. I felt my jaw drop as I stared at him. Then it hit me. Chris Colfer was _here_ and he was looking for _me_!?!?

I was about to step out from my hiding place when I realized that Chris was not alone. Right behind him stood the last person that I wanted to see right now: _Darren Criss_.

"That's not her," he sighed, scratching his curly head with his free hand as the other one was holding a bright bouquet of flowers.

"No, I'm not Kaley," Leah finally spoke up, finding her voice again. "But she-" She looked back at where she knew I was and our eyes locked. I quickly shook my head, telling her that I didn't want to see him. She nodded very slightly before turning back to the guys.

"But she's actually not here right now," Leah continued. "She had a _rough night_ last night, so she's not coming in until later." I winced slightly at Leah's words, even though they were true... Well, half true at least. Last night had been a rough one.

My eyes flickered back to Darren and I was surprised by what I saw. He looked absolutely stricken, sorrow and pain lancing through his heavy hazel eyes. His shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world had just been put on them.

"Now what?" he asked as he turned to Chris. Chris brought his hand up to stroke his chin as he thought, his eyes catching on Leah as he looked around the room and realization suddenly flashed through them.

"Oh, where are my manners!" he exclaimed, walking towards her and holding out his hand. "I'm Chris Colfer."

"I can see that," Leah replied, taking his hand. "I mean-I mean I know. I know who you are." Then she bowed to him and I almost burst out laughing as I realized what she was doing. Once she finished the bow, which caught Chris off guard and left a surprised look on his face, Leah proceeded to move very close to him, uncomfortably close, and whisper something to him. Although I couldn't hear what she was saying, I was sure that I could guess what it was.

"I just want to let you know," I could subconsciously hear her voice in my head. "Nobody has talent but you, none of the new artists." When she pulled away, I noticed the huge smile on Chris' face.

"You've seen my _Lady Gaga_ interview with _Ellen_ ," he laughed. A smile spread across Leah's face.

"Maybe once or twice," she admitted, blushing. "I told myself that if I ever got to meet you that I would have to do that to you."

"Well, I'm glad you did," he smiled. "It made my day."

"Well, that just made my day then," Leah replied. "This is so surreal."

"Umm, you can let go of my hand now..." Chris lightly chuckled. Leah looked down at their still clasped hands and quickly let go.

"Sorry," she mumbled, hanging her head. "I honestly didn't mean to do that..."

"No worries," he smiled. "Miss...?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Tanner, Leah Tanner."

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Leah Tanner," he gave her a small bow. I knew that she must be freaking out inside but she did really well at remaining seemingly calm.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mister Chris Colfer," she beamed. Darren took that moment to step forward.

"Hi Leah, I'm Darren Criss," he said, extending his hand towards her.

"Yes, I know who you are," she glared at him, but then slowly reached out and took his hand. "I'm Kaley Grant's _best friend_." She let his hand drop as she let go, letting her words sink in. His face paled and his eyes widened.

"Please, let me explai-" he started, but Leah cut him off.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," she snapped. "Kaley's the one who should get some answers." She lowered her voice before continuing.

"You hurt her, you know," she said softly. "Do you have any idea what it's like to meet your hero and then to have them basically rip your heart out and step on it repeatedly?" Darren cringed at her words.

"I feel horrible," he replied, hanging his head. "I was having a bad day and I took it out on her. I don't know what happened. I just... snapped, you know?" He sighed as he looked back up, running his fingers through his short, curly hair.

"I never meant to hurt her," he continued. "Honestly, if there was any way that I could take it all back, I would. That was probably the cruelest that I've ever been in my entire life and I cannot stop kicking myself for my actions. When I realized what I had done, I felt sick to my stomach. I know that there is no way that I can ever make it up to her, but I'm willing to try. Could you give these to her when she gets in?" He held out the flowers to her.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of my hiding place.

"That won't be necessary."


	8. Isn't She Lovely?

**Darren's POV**

She appeared out of no where, the sudden sound of her voice surprising me. I felt Chris shift beside me and suddenly his voice was speaking in my ear. 

"Wow, she's a cutie," he whispered, letting out a low whistle. "You never said that she was cute." His comment caught me off guard and I was left speechless. I blinked my eyes repeatedly as I looked at him, my eyebrows furrowing questioningly, before I looked back at her. As I looked at her, I realized that she was pretty cute and I instantly felt even worse. 

I hadn't noticed before how pretty her light brown, carmel streaked hair was, or how nicely it framed her tanned face, which held beautiful, bright brown eyes that were currently glaring at me. 

"You must be Kaley," Chris chimed in before I could say anything. He smoothly walked over to her and held out his hand to her. "I'm Chris Colfer."

"It's an honour to meet you," she smiled as she took his hand. "You have an _amazing_ voice and are so talented. Honestly, the majority of my favourite songs on the show are ones that you do because I just love hearing your voice." 

"Oh, why thank you!" he blushed, looking back at me and mouthing, "I like her!"

"You are too sweet," he continued, turning back to her. "But speaking of _sweet people_ , there's someone here who would like to say something to you." He started to move away to turn her attention onto me, but then he stopped suddenly and whispered something in her ear. He gently patted her shoulder and gave her a light smile before moving away. Her eyes were warm and light as they looked at Chris, but turned cold and hard as they fell back on me. 

"Th-these are for you," I stuttered, holding out the flowers to her. She did not move, but rather remained firmly planted where she stood, her arms crossed over her chest. I noticed her shoulders stiffen slightly when I started talking but I couldn't stop. I had to let her know how I felt. 

"Please," I sighed, taking a step towards her. "I'm so sorry. I don't think that I can ever say that enough to convey how sorry I am. I was a jerk to you and you didn't deserve it. There is no excuse for my actions. Having a bad day does not justify what I did to you and I can only hope that you will someday be able to forgive me." I noticed her shoulders slowly starting to relax as I spoke and when I finished, she stepped closer to me and took the flowers from my hands. 

"Thank you," was all she said as she turned away from me. I thought that that was an indication that I should go, so I turned to leave, but Chris grabbed my arm, stopping me. 

"Wait," he whispered, pointing back towards Kaley. I turned back and watched as she gently set the flowers down on the table behind her before turning back to us. 

She looked at me and took a deep breath. 

"I forgive you," she said. 

"You do?" I was surprised. 

"Yes, I forgive you," she repeated. "I forgive you, but I don't trust you. You _hurt_ me, Darren, more than you could ever know." 

"I know," I hung my head. "I did not expect you to forgive me, but I'm very thankful that you did. I only wish that I could find a way to earn back your trust. I feel horrible about what happened. Is there any way that I can make it up to you?"

"I don't know," she sighed, leaning back against the table. 

"Well, when you think of something, please let me know, okay?" I replied, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my small notepad and pen that I carried around in case I got inspiration for a song. I quickly flipped it open and scribbled my number down. I ripped the page out and handed it to her. 

"Here," I said, urging her to take it. She slowly reached out and took it from my hand. Our fingers briefly touched and I felt a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach before she quickly drew her hand away. Her eyebrows furrowed in question as she looked at it, but then realization flashed across her face. 

"Are you _serious_?" her voice was a barely audible whisper. 

"Of course," I smiled for the first time. "Let me know if you need anything, okay? Anything I can do for you, anything at all." 

"Ok, yeah," she stuttered. "Thanks." 

"Can I borrow that?" Chris asked, plucking the notepad from my hand. He quickly jotted something down on it, then ripped the page out and handed it to Leah. 

"I look forward to talking with you girls again," he smiled, giving them a little _wiggling fingers_ wave before he turned and looped his arm through mine and proceeded to pull me out of the room. I chanced a glance back at the girls as he pulled me out the door and I smiled as I saw Kaley's eyes soften and a smile spread across her lips. And then they were gone from my sight. 

"From zero to ten, how well would you say that went?" I asked, turning my head towards Chris as we walked down the hallway. 

"For you, I would say about an 8.5," Chris smiled. "But for me, that was a perfect 10. Those girls were so sweet! I can't believe that you could be so mean to someone like _her_!"

"Hey!" I exclaimed, stopping and turning towards him. "I thought that you were on my side!"

"Key word there, " _were_ "," Chris shrugged. I felt my mouth drop open in shock, the pure emotion of hurt plastering all over my face. 

"Darren, I'm _kidding_!" he laughed, giving me a light, playful shove. "And there's no real "side" here to take anyways. What happened was just an unfortunate misunderstanding. Kaley seems like a smart girl. I'm sure that things will smooth over between you two in no time." 

"You really think so?" I asked, hopeful. 

"Oh Darren, honey," Chris sighed. "Sometimes you can be just as _oblivious_ as Blaine is." With that, he turned and started to walk away from me. 

I stood there for a moment, letting his words sink in, before I snapped my head up and called out after him, "Wait! What do you mean by oblivious?"


	9. Hey, Soul Sister

**Kaley's POV**

I couldn't breath. A part of me couldn't believe that that had actually just happened.

"Kaley," Leah's voice called my attention to her. I slowly turned towards her and found her to be in the exact same state as I was. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and her mouth was hanging open in shock. In her hands she delicately held the paper that Chris had given her.

"Kaley, I'm gleeking out right now," she eeked, staring down at the paper. I looked back down at the paper in my hands and my eyes flittered over the digits there again.

Darren Criss had just given me his _number_!

I didn't know how to feel. A part of me was still mad at him, even though I had forgiven him, while another part was freaking out, excited by the fact that he had given me something that I had wanted for years. And yet there was still another part of me that was actually _scared_ of him, scared of his hostile actions when we first met, scared of the anger that I had seen in his eyes. It was not the ideal first meeting that I had expected.

But then again, a part of me still swooned when he was nearby, my heart pounding rapidly when he spoke, practically stopping when his soft eyes fell on me. I couldn't deny the fact that I was still hardcore crushing on him.

 _I will just have to tread carefully around him,_ I decided.

"Kaley?" Leah brought my attention back to her. "Did you not hear me? I'm _gleeking_ out!"

"Leah..." I replied slowly, turning back to her, a smile slowly creeping onto my lips. "I think I just _gleeked_ all over the place!" A smile plastered across Leah's face as she laughed. I had made that comment before after hearing Darren sing _Sorry For Party Rocking_ at the _MMVAs_ when he had hit the last high, beautiful note. We had both freaked out while watching it on TV and then I had made my fateful comment, for which now Leah would not stop teasing me about. Eventually, we turned it into our own little joke, gleeking out and gleeking all over the place.

"If I'm dreaming, please don't pinch me," I begged once we had stopped laughing. "This is too nice of a dream to wake up from."

"It's not a dream, Kaley," Leah squeaked. "It's real! It's all real! Kaley, we now have Darren Criss' and Chris Colfer's phone numbers!"

"Then why are we currently not frantically trying to add them to our phones?" I asked with a light smirk. Leah looked at me and our eyes locked. We simultaneously pulled our phones out of our pockets and quickly began to insert the numbers into them, briefly trading papers so that we could added the other's number too.

"I want that back," Leah pointed at the paper that was now in my hand. Of course she would. It was Chris' page.

"Only if I get that one back," I replied, pointing at the one in her hand.

"Deal," she laughed, handing me her page as I did the same.

"We're kind of ridiculous sometimes," I commented, folding the paper and tucking it into my backpocket. "You know that, right?" She just smiled at me.

"Would you have us any other way?" she asked playfully.

"Never," I smiled back.

"Kaley!" a familiar voice called my name. I turned around and smiled at Vicky as she walked in the door.

"Hi Vicky," we both greeted her warmly.

"Is everything okay here?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder at the door, implying that she must have passed the boys on her way here.

"Yep," I nodded. "Everything's _perfect_." I winked at Leah and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, catching on to my Klaine (or as we liked to call them, Blurt) song reference.

"Ok then..." Vicky smiled, looking back at me. "Kaley, I have a new job for you."

"Oh..." I exclaimed kind of sadly, looking over at Leah. I had been enjoying myself helping her here.

"You can still help out here whenever you're not needed elsewhere," Vicky reassured me, noticing my reaction.

"Oh, okay then," I smiled. "So what do you need me for?"

"Here," she handed a small stack of papers to me. "I need you to hang these up in each of the dressing rooms, as well as in the wings, green room, and black box. And anywhere else that you think it should be put up." I looked down at the papers in my hands and gasped.

"Set list!?" I exclaimed, reading the words on the top of the page.

"Yes, in case the performers forget the order of the show," Vicky nodded. "Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I saluted.

"Good," she smiled, handing me a roll of tape before turning away. "If you need me, I'll be Stage Right." And with that she was gone and Leah was by my side in an instant, eagerly trying to look at the papers in my hands.

"Let me see! Let me see!" she pleaded, grabbing at the papers.

"Settle your jets!" I laughed, holding the papers up out of her reach. "Settle..."

"Alright! Alright!" she huffed, crossing her arms and pouting her lip for a moment before taking a deep breath and putting a smile on her face. "See? I'm calm." She uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips, giving me an expression that said, "Well? What are you waiting for?" I laughed at her childish expressions and brought the papers back down so that she could see them. Together we quickly read over the set list.

 

**Set List**

1) _Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'_

\- Blaine, Kurt, Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, Tina, Rachel, Quinn, Finn, Mike, Puck, Sam, & Artie

2) _Jessie's Girl_

\- Finn

3) _Dinosaur_

\- Brittany & Cheerios

4) _For Good_

\- Rachel & Kurt

5) _Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)_

\- Mercedes, Santana, Brittany, & Cheerios

6) _Lucky_

\- Sam & Quinn

7) _Hot For Teacher_

\- Puck, Finn, Mike, & Blaine

8) _Don't Rain on my Parade_

\- Rachel

9) _Perfect_

\- Kurt & Blaine

10) _I'm Still Standing_

\- Artie & Quinn

11) _Love Shack_

\- Blaine, Mercedes, Kurt, Rachel, & Brittany

12) _Not The Boy Next Door_

\- Kurt, Tina, Brittany, & Mercedes

13) _Pretending_

\- Finn & Rachel

14) _Light Up The World_

\- Santana, Artie, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, Finn, Puck, Kurt, Blaine, Tina, Mike, Mercedes, & Sam

**~ Intermission ~**

15) _Born This Way_

\- Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Brittany, Blaine, Puck, Artie, Mike, Quinn, Finn, Rachel, Santana, & Sam

16) _Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead_

\- Rachel & Kurt

17) _It's Not Unusual_

\- Blaine & Cheerios (including Santana)

18) _Single Ladies_

\- Kurt, Brittany, & Tina (with dancers)

19) _Don't You Want Me_

\- Blaine & Rachel

20) _Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)_

\- Blaine, Kurt, Mike, Tina, Artie, Brittany, Santana, Quinn, Rachel, Finn, Puck, Mercedes, & Sam

21) _Need You Now_

\- Rachel & Puck

22) _We Are Young_

\- Rachel, Finn, Sam, Quinn, Mike, Tina, Artie, Puck, Blaine, Kurt, Mercedes, Santana, Brittany

23) _I'm The Greatest Star_

\- Kurt

24) _Get It Right_

\- Rachel, Brittany, Tina, Mercedes, & Quinn

25) _Loser Like Me_

\- Rachel, Finn, Santana, Brittany, Tina, Mike, Kurt, Artie, Blaine, Puck, Sam, Mercedes, & Quinn

**~ Encore ~**

26) _I Feel Pretty/Unpretty_

\- Rachel & Quinn

27) _True Colours_

\- Tina, Finn, Mercedes, Puck, Kurt, Brittany, Blaine, Mike, Santana, & Sam

28) _The Safety Dance_

\- Artie (with dancers)

29) _Don't Stop Believin'_

\- Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes, Puck, Brittany, Santana, Mike, Tina, Sam, Quinn, & Artie

 

"Leah!" I exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her arm. "They're doing _our_ song!" I pointed at number 16. Leah and I had learned all of the words and even the whole dance for this song. It was one of our favourites.

"I know what we'll be doing backstage during the show!" Leah smiled mischievously.

"Dancing with witch hats and broomsticks?" I suggested.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!" Leah exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Shall we?" She started to pull her iPod out of her pocket, but I stopped her.

"Not right now," I laughed, placing a gentle hand on her arm. "I've got a job to do!"

"Later then?" she asked, slightly pouting.

"Of course," I smiled as I turned to leave. "You know that I can't say no to a _HummelBerry_ duet!" Her laughter followed me out into the hall.

As I made my way down the hallway, I found myself starting to hum _Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead_ in my head. Giving into temptation, I pulled out my iPod and set it to play the song as I put the earbuds in my ears. I spent the next twenty minutes singing quietly along to various _Glee_ songs as I went about the theatre hanging up the set lists. I saved the dressing rooms, more specifically Darren's dressing room, for last.

As I did for all of the other rooms, I knocked before pushing open the door. I let out a deep sigh of relief as I discovered that he was not there. No one had been in their rooms. I guessed that they were maybe having a meeting with Ryan or something. Relaxing, I went over to the large vanity on the far side of the room and taped the set list to the mirror, a very visible and easy to see spot.

"Well, that's that!" I declared out loud to myself. I turned to leave, not wanting to be there when Darren got back. Though things were better between us, I still wasn't very comfortable being around him just yet. I sighed, reaching for the doorknob when my iPod shuffled to a new song and started to play it. I stopped, a smile spreading across my lips as I recognized the song. Ironically, it was one of his songs.

_Your lipstick stains_  
On the front lobe of my  
Left-side brains  
I knew I wouldn't forget you  
And so I went and let you  
Blow my mind 

I started singing along with the song, quietly at first but gradually getting louder as I danced around the room.

_Your sweet moonbeam_  
The smell of you in every  
Single dream I dream  
I knew when we collided  
You're the one I have decided  
Who's one of my kind 

_Hey soul sister_  
Ain't that mister mister  
On the radio, stereo  
The way you move ain't fair, you know  
Hey soul sister  
I don't wanna miss  
A single thing you do  
Tonight 

_Hey, hey, hey_

_Just in time_  
I'm so glad you have  
A one track mind like me  
You gave my life direction  
A game show love connection  
We can't deny 

_I'm so obsessed_  
My heart is bound to beat  
Right out my untrimmed chest  
I believe in you  
LIke a virgin, you're Madonna  
And I'm always gonna wanna blow your mind 

_Hey soul sister_  
Ain't that mister mister  
On the radio, stereo  
The way you move ain't fair, you know  
Hey soul sister  
I don't wanna miss  
A single thing you do  
Tonight 

_The way you can cut a rug_  
Watching you is the only drug I need  
So gangster, I'm so thug  
You're the only one I'm dreaming of 

_You see, I can be myself now finally_  
In fact there's nothing I can't be  
I want the world to see you'll be with me 

_Hey soul sister_  
Ain't that mister mister  
On the radio, stereo  
The way you move ain't fair, you know  
Hey soul sister  
I don't wanna miss  
A single thing you do  
Tonight 

_Hey soul sister_  
I don't wanna miss  
A single thing you do  
Tonight 

_Hey, hey, hey_  
Tonight  
Hey, hey, hey  
Tonight 

As I finished the last note of the song I found myself smiling. I was relieved that I still found joy in singing his songs after everything that had happened. His songs were, after all, some of my favourites.

In the quiet between songs, I heard a sudden thump on the door and I froze. He was back. My eyes frantically darted around the room, looking for a way out. There were two other doors. I took a gamble and dashed towards one as the doorknob started to turn. I quickly slipped through the door, somehow managing to not make a sound, briefly glancing back to see the other door fly open. I looked back in front of me and found that I was in Chris Colfer's dressing room. I hadn't realized that they were connected.

 _That could have saved me a lot of time if I had known that earlier,_ I groaned inwardly. Then I remembered where I was and quickly exited the room, just in case he had seen me duck in here. There was thankfully no one in the hallway.

 _Whew,_ I sighed, wiping my forehead. _That was a close one._

I knew that I couldn't avoid him forever, but for now it made me feel better to keep some distance between us.

 _I doubt he'll even notice,_ I thought, partly sad. _There are so many other girls that he can think about, so why would he bother thinking about me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies on how long it's been since I've updated this story, but I had actually forgotten that I had been posting on this site! The story was actually completed a couple months ago, so I will try to upload all of the chapters onto here as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience and understanding! :)


	10. She's Not There

**Darren's POV**

"Where is she?" I gasped, looking frantically around the room. I checked behind each of the clothing racks, but came up empty-handed.

"Are you sure that it was coming from in here?" Chris' voice came from behind me. I turned around to glare at him.

"You can't tell me that you didn't hear her too!" I accused. "She was right here!"

"Maybe it was just a recording or something," Chris suggested. "Just because you heard someone singing doesn't mean that they were actually singing right here, right now."

"Chris, I'm serious!" I sighed, slumping back against the vanity. "She was in here."

We had been walking back from a talk from Ryan. He had wanted to make sure that everything was ok with everyone. Though the question was said to everyone, I knew that it was actually directed towards me. My suspicions were confirmed when he pulled me aside afterwards.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "I just had a bad day yesterday, that's all."

"Vanessa problems," Chris pitched it, for which I shot him an angry glare.

"Again?" Ryan sighed. "Look Darren-"

"It's over between us, okay?" I sighed. "I called it off yesterday. That's why I was so upset and acted out. I did go apologize to that girl. I felt terrible about what happened, so I took her flowers and everything. I think things are cool between us now. But ya, I'm fine now. No more acting out, I swear." Ryan just stared at me for a minute, assessing whether or not he believed me, but finally he let out a sigh and sent us on our way.

"On stage in ten," he reminded us as we walked away. "We're going to run from the top, that means the beginning of the show!"

_I know,_ I rolled my eyes. As much as I loved Ryan, I could only take so much of him. Like I am the theatre guy after all, my fame kinda started with the help of _AVPM_ , a musical that I helped write and produce. It's like as if he forgot that sometimes.

_Well, after next week I won't have to worry about him breathing down my neck,_ I smiled. Ryan was only staying for one week of the show, just to make sure that everything was going well, before heading back to LA to work on more scripts for _Glee_ , as well as some of his other shows.

"Did I overstep with the whole Vanessa comment?" Chris' soft voice asked tentatively. I sighed as I looked at him. He had that worried look on his face, afraid that he had upset me.

"No, Chris, it's fine," I reassured him, giving him a light pat on the back. "It's just that Ryan doesn't need to know every detail of my personal life, okay?"

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's fine," I repeated. That's when I heard it. The soft, musical sound of someone singing.

"Do you hear that?" I asked, putting my arm out to stop him. We both stood there in the middle of the hallway, our ears straining to hear the voice.

"I do," Chris exclaimed, looking at me. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," I felt my eyebrows furrow in confusion. It wasn't a voice that I recognized. "Let's find out!"

We slowly made our way down the hallway, stopping momentarily at each door that we passed, listening intently to see if the voice came from inside. Finally, we stopped outside a door where the voice sounded the loudest. With a start, I realized that we were standing in front of my dressing room. I gave Chris a questioning look, to which he just shrugged. I carefully pressed my ear against the door and suddenly felt sure that this was where the source of the voice was.

I wanted to fling the door open to reveal the singer, but I found myself entranced by the voice. It was light and pure, obviously female, and was so happy as it sang the song that I had done on _Glee_ , _Hey, Soul Sister_. She was singing it acapella, but it still sounded beautiful even without the music that I was used to hearing with this song.

I felt Chris lean up against the door beside me, trying to hear the voice better too. We both listened silently as she sang the last line of the song and when she finished, I felt the sudden urge to rush in and find out who this person was. But when I went to step back from the door, my foot caught on Chris', who was standing too close to me, and I almost fell backwards, throwing my body forwards instead. I winced as my body slammed against the door.

"You okay?" Chris whispered, concern laced in his words.

"I'm fine," I replied, pushing myself away from the door. "Come on, let's go applaud our mystery singer." I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. I was shocked to find the room empty.

"Where is she?" I repeated again for like the fifth time.

"Darren, I don't think-" Chris started.

"No, we both heard her," I interrupted him. "You know that there was someone in here!"

"I don't know what I heard," Chris sighed. "For all we know, it could have been a recording. Don't stress out over it, okay? We've got a show to do!"

"Alright," I sighed, grabbing my _Michael Jackson_ outfit for the first number. "I'll try."

"There's my brave, handsome, bushy-haired boyfriend!" Chris smiled, using a line from the show.

"Hey, don't insult the hair!" I warned, pointing a finger at him. He just raised his hands defensively as if to say, "Sorry, didn't mean it, don't point at me!" I dropped my hand with a laugh.

"You better hurry," I smirked. "You're running out of time to put on your _favourite_ costume." Chris just glared at me. The Michael Jackson outfit was one of his least favourites as it was a full black leather, one-piece suit that, like my outfit, had a band around the left sleeve, except his was gold.

"Can't I just sit this one out?" he pleaded, pouting his lips a little.

"Chris..." I added a warning tone to my voice.

"I'm going! I'm going!" he sighed, turning around and exiting through the door that attached our rooms.

"Huh," I heard him exclaim softly as he passed through the door. "I thought that I had closed this."

My heart skipped a beat at his comment. He _had_ closed that door earlier. That meant that I was _right_.

_Someone had been in here._


	11. It's All Over

**Kaley's POV**

"Kaley, have you seen this?" Leah asked when I walked into the room. She was sitting on the long, rectangular table, holding up what looked like a magazine, one of the weekly ones, I guessed. On the front I could just barely make out three familiar faces: Chris, Darren, and Lea Michele.

"No, I haven't," I replied, walking over to her. "What's it about?"

"See for yourself," was all she said, holding the magazine out to me. I took it, pulling myself up onto the table beside her. On the front cover there was a large picture of Chris and Lea supporting a very dazed and out-of-it looking Darren. I looked closer at the picture of Darren and realized with a start that he was wearing the exact same clothes as when we had met.

"This was from yesterday," I told Leah. She raised an eyebrow, silently inquiring how I knew this. "He was wearing that hoodie last night." She accepted my reasoning with a nod.

"Look at the caption," she urged, pointing at the bold lettering beneath the photo. It read: _Darren's Downward Spiral_. I looked up at Leah questioningly, but she just shrugged.

"I was waiting for you to find out what that's about," she said, scooting closer to me. "It's on page 21, I know that at least, but I didn't peek at it. I wanted to wait for you so that we could read it together." I opened the magazine, quickly flipping through the pages till I found the one that I was looking for. Similar photos as the one on the cover page were plastered all across the double page spread, as well as a picture of a very pretty brunette.

"That's Vanessa, his girlfriend," I told Leah, pointing to the brunette. I had always been secretly jealous of her, wishing that I could have been the one to date Darren, but I always felt unpretty when I compared myself to her, someone that Darren would never even think about dating.

Vanessa was tall, slightly taller than Darren at times due to the high heels that she always wore, and very thin, like supermodel thin, which made sense since that's exactly what she was.

_She's beautiful,_ I sighed to myself as I traced my finger along her long, wavy chocolate brown hair. I could never remember what colour her eyes were because they were always covered by a pair of huge black sunglasses, like the ones that she wore in the picture, but I was sure that they must be beautiful. Supermodels always had stunning eyes.

"Oh my gosh, Kaley!" Leah exclaimed, drawing my attention away from Vanessa's picture. She was pointing eagerly at the main article. I followed her finger to the words on the page and started to read them.

_Darren Criss, the third rated most sexiest man in America, was found to be feeling the exact opposite this past Friday evening, arriving at his hotel on the supportive arms of friends and costars, Chris Colfer and Lea Michele. When asked what was wrong, Criss was unable to answer, barely conscious to what was going on around him. After much digging into this strange reaction, our sources discovered that it was only hours earlier that Criss and his long time girlfriend of almost two years, Vanessa Peterson, had called off their relationship. Our sources will not confirm who was the one to call it off, but judging by Criss' reaction, it is almost safe to assume that Peterson was the one who ended it._

_How will this heartbreak affect Criss' career? With the **Glee Experience** show just starting tomorrow, Sunday, July 22, will Criss be able to put his emotions on hold or will he cause problems on and off stage for his costars?_

"That's despicable!" I cried, pointing at the last statement. "Darren is a total professional! He knows the rules of the theatre! _Leave your baggage at the door_!"

"Kaley, is that all that you got from this?" Leah urged me to look at the article again. This time, as my eyes flittered over the sentences, I stopped at the line that Leah was freaking about: _our sources discovered that it was only hours earlier that Criss and his long time girlfriend of almost two years, Vanessa Peterson, had called off their relationship._

I slowly looked up at Leah as realization clicked in my head.

"Kaley, Darren is _single_!" she exclaimed excitedly, trying to get me to join in her excitement. But I didn't. I felt my blood run cold and I shivered as I read the line over and over again.

"Kaley?" her voice was filled with concern and worry because I hadn't joined in with her. I slowly tore my attention away from the magazine and looked at her.

"That's why he was so upset," I said slowly. "That's why he got so mad..." I saw realization flood through her eyes as I turned my attention back down on the magazine, on those words: _it was only hours earlier._

My eyes slowly drifted back down to the picture of him being supported by Chris and Lea. Vanessa had broken up with him. It had happened only hours earlier from when this picture had been taken, but when we first met, it had happened only _moments_ earlier.


End file.
